Office Romance
by obsessive-compulsive16
Summary: "We used to work together and he used to ask me out all the time." Well, what if Pepper had accepted? Pepper/Aldrich Killian
1. Chapter 1

Aldrich Killian purposely walked past Pepper Potts' office every day. Sometimes he would say hello; on days that he was confident, he'd try to ask her out to lunch or out for coffee after work. She was always polite, but never said yes to his offers. Still, every day he tried, and today was no different.

"Hey Pepper." Aldrich said, giving the open door a little knock. Pepper had her head in her hands and didn't turn around to say hi to Aldrich as she usually did.

"Is something wrong?" Aldrich asked, stepping into the office a little. Pepper wiped her eyes quickly, looking directly at her desk and not at Aldrich.

"I'm fine." She said in a voice that sounded rough, like she'd been crying for a while. Aldrich approached her desk, standing next to where she was seated.

"Are you sure? Y-you can talk to me, you know. I'll h-help." Aldrich said, his usual stutter making him sound just as nervous as he felt. He tried to keep a confident stance, but that was difficult with his cane.

Pepper considered his proposal longer than she usually did and finally decided to accept.

"Sure. Meet me at the coffee shop around the corner after work?" Pepper asked. Aldrich tried his best to hide his excitement and agreed to the meeting. He smiled all the way back to his desk and hoped the day would go by fast.

The day dragged on even more than normal, but when it was time to leave the office, excitement flooded through Aldrich. He made his way as quickly as he could to the coffee shop and saw Pepper sitting alone at a table, coffee already in hand. Aldrich bought a cup and went to join Pepper.

"Hi." He said nervously, sitting down. Pepper still looked sad.

"Hey, Killian." She said, calling him by his last name as usual. It bothered him a little, but he wouldn't say anything. He considered himself incredibly lucky to be out with Pepper Potts and wouldn't jeopardize it by correcting her.

"S-so," Aldrich began, "w-what's going on?" He hoped this was a good conversation starter. He didn't have many conversations. In all honesty, he was quite the loner, and not by choice. Having a physical handicap, a stutter, horrible eyesight, and crooked teeth didn't exactly appeal to most people.

"It's a long story." Pepper said, taking a deep breath. Aldrich nodded, hoping she would continue. "The guy I've been seeing for a year has been cheating on me for six months." She was looking at her coffee cup, holding it with both hands. She almost looked like she was about to cry. When she took a shuddery breath, Aldrich made the bold decision to reach out and hold her hand. To his surprise, Pepper didn't reject the gesture.

"I'm s-sorry he did that. Y-you deserve so m-much better." Aldrich said, meaning himself. He hoped she would get the hint, and gave her hand a little squeeze. She looked back up at him, a small smile on her face and tears brimming at her eyes.

"Thank you, Killian." she said quietly, squeezing his hand back. His heart was racing at this point. Here he was, in a coffee shop holding hands with the girl of his dreams, and she was now single. This must have been his lucky day.

"Y-you're welcome, P-pepper." He said, smiling a wide toothy grin at her. She smiled wider in return, but her smile soon fell and she looked at her watch.

"I'm so sorry, I have to be somewhere right now." She said quickly, getting up from the table.

"Okay." Aldrich said, disappointed that their time together was so short. "Y-you can call me later. We c-could go out for drinks or s-something."

"Okay, I'll call you." She said, rushing out the door of the coffee shop. Aldrich stayed seated, not sure even his cane could support him the way his heart was pounding. He was still smiling, sure that Pepper would call and they would go out on a real date. After nearly a year of pining after her, Aldrich was finally going to get his girl.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Pepper and Aldrich sat at the bar of a fairly decent restaurant near his apartment. Pepper was on her third drink, Aldrich still slowly sipping his first beer. It had been three days since their coffee date and Pepper was still upset about her now ex-boyfriend.

"I just can't believe he did that, y'know?" she said, slurring her words a bit. She downed the remains of her third drink and ordered another. "I trusted him, we were talking about getting married." Aldrich reached for Pepper's hand and held it comfortingly.

"H-he's an idiot." Aldrich said.

"Yeah." Pepper agreed. "Yeah, he is. I hate him." Her fourth drink arrived and she took a few sips, then looked straight at Aldrich.

"I need a nice guy." She said. She reached up and touched his face with her free hand.

"I-I'm a n-nice guy." Aldrich said, extremely surprised that Pepper was being so forward. He had to keep in mind that she had been drinking, but he didn't want to completely discount the moment as a drunken mistake.

"Yeah, you are." Pepper said, leaning forward to kiss him. He had imagined this moment so many times, but now that it was actually here he had no idea what to do. He would never admit it to anyone, but this was his first kiss.

Pepper kissed him full and hard, moving her hand from his face to his thigh. He gasped and broke the kiss.

"Are you s-sure about this?" He said. Pepper looked him straight in the eyes again.

"Yes," was all she had to say before they were kissing again and soon they found themselves in a cab on the way to his apartment.

* * *

They were kissing furiously once they entered the apartment and Pepper pushed Aldrich back onto the nearest flat surface, which happened to be the couch. She straddled him and kept kissing him, and he was sure of her intent. As she began unbuttoning her blouse, Aldrich put his hands over hers.

"D-do you want to go to the b-bedroom?" He asked, nervous as hell but trying not to show it. Pepper just nodded, following him with her shirt half open and her shoes by the door.

Aldrich awoke to find Pepper's arm draped over his chest, her face resting against his arm. She was sleeping soundly and he didn't want to wake her, so he just watched her sleep. As he watched her, the memories from last night replayed in his head and he smiled wide. He had lost his virginity to his dream girl.

Pepper began to stir, sitting up slightly and rubbing her eyes. Aldrich worried for a moment that she wouldn't remember last night, but that wasn't the thing he should have feared.

"Oh God." Pepper said when she saw whose bed she was in. She got up and quickly went into the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her and Aldrich heard it lock. He got out of bed and hobbled to the door, his cane lying on the floor across the room. He knocked on the door softly.

"P-pepper?" He asked quietly. "Is everything okay?" He thought he might have heard her sniffle, but he wasn't entirely sure.

"I need to leave. Can you please give me my clothes?" Pepper said, her voice shaking slightly. Aldrich gathered the clothing scattered around the room and gave it to Pepper whose arm was reaching through the slightly open bathroom door. She shut the door again and Aldrich sat back on the bed. He was confused. Pepper had been all over him last night, even saying that she wanted to be with him, but now she was acting strange. She emerged from the bathroom and headed for the front door. Aldrich grabbed his cane and hurried after her.

"Did I do something w-wrong?" He asked, worried that he'd messed up the relationship already. Pepper didn't turn around, her hand already on the doorknob.

"This was a mistake, Killian. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have done that." She said, voice still shaking. Aldrich wasn't sure what to say. He didn't think it was a mistake, and he wanted to know why she did, but she was upset so he decided he should just let her leave. When he didn't answer, she turned the knob and opened the door.

"I-I'll see you at w-work!" He called after her. She gave a half-hearted wave and then left.


End file.
